Hard parts

Some times, life is just hard. This weekend was kind of hard.

I still don't feel good. I do not feel bad--just not GOOD. I am still tired, and I am coughing like crazy. I cannot get to sleep at nite, and I feel like a zombie the rest of the time. This has to end soon, surely.

So I cannot do much. I feel bad that I am just laying here all the time, it is driving Barry crazy. He got home early on Friday, and of course, I was asleep, which I always am lately.

I managed to get out of bed long enough to go to the movies Friday nite--we saw something I cannot remember right now. It was cute, whatever it was. Then we went to dinner, where I ordered Chili I could not eat for some reason, and went to Wal Mart and then to doctor the baby's leg, etc. I was so worn out after all that, but I could not fall asleep until 5am.

Saturday was the weigh-in for the end of the competition--I am down 23. 5 pounds. That is pretty dang good. I so want to work out again, but I cannot keep from coughing so it is still out of the question. It has been 10 days and now I will basically have to start all over again.

Since I cannot really DO anything, we went to the movies again, then to Lowe's then to the farm. Barry replaced a skylight in the roof which was damaged by the last storm, and I doctored everyone who needs it.

That is when things took a turn for the worse. I should have known things were going too well.

Barry got Tango's wrap off even though we had wanted to leave it on a few days--but it had slid down and things did not look good poking out of the top of it. That part was the easy part. It was so cold out that the salve that goes on the wound was not smearing well, so I had to put it on a bandage, then wrap that with the quilt, then put the polo wrap on it. Tango was in no mood for this. She fought like a banshee--she pawed, she struck, she reared up--she did it repeatedly, and every time, the medicated bandage would fly off, and we would have to start all over. I cannot believe how strong she is. I also cannot believe I did not get my head split open, because I was not about to let go of her when she was acting like that. For my efforts, I feel like I have been hit by a car not. All of that fighting got the blood flowing in the wound, which is great for her but not so great for me. I had blood all over the place--in my hair, all over my arms, on my face, etc. Since I had not planned to be there, I had no jacket and it was below freezing--so I was wearing Barry's. He was complaining that I was going to get medicine on it, so I had taken it off, and was freezing my ass off as she threw me around the stall. And of course that made me cough.

Can you picture that? Freezing my butt off, with blood all over me like I had been in a slaughterhouse, coughing like a three pack a day smoker---and Barry and I sniping at each other for not making it easier.

Yeah that was a treat. You do what you gotta do though, and she needed her leg wrapped and by God, was going to get it.

After that, we were to have dinner with Headleys--we were to meet them near their house then ride with them to the restaurant in Indiana. Our instructions were to stop at a certain exit on the interstate and wait at the hog barn. That was a first--I have not ever started a Saturday nite like that before, I don't believe. Dinner was excellent though--I have not eaten like that in months.

Back to bed I went, until today, when I had to get up and do it all over again. We met Barry's brothers and mom and niece and nephew near St Louis for lunch, for Barry's mom's birthday. I mostly coughed during it all, so I am sure that they did not enjoy me that much, but it was nice to see them. All that running got the best of me, and I fell asleep on the way home, while I tried to listen to the Illinois basketball game. That must have cursed them as they got beat--which they rarely do at home, and was disappointing. Not so disappointing that I could stay awake though. I took a real nap for more than three hours after the game was over, and I am so exhausted that I did not even move.

I sure hope I can get through the work day tomorrow, I need to go to work. I am just so tired from it all. I have been awake from more than two hours now and I think I have hit my limit.

I need this week to go well. It is foaling time, and the foalcam is not working, and that makes me anxious. I feel so behind at work, but I know I am not really since I got the big honking project done in the few hours I was there last week. Somehow, I feel very stressed lately, like I am about to pop and I do not feel like anything good is liable to come of it. I also feel like I am shouldering everything by myself, and no matter how hard I try to keep things moving forward with a minimum of drama, I cannot do everything on my own, and it frustrates me that I have to.

I am sure that I will feel better when I can exercise, which I hope is soon. Barry might be here this week, and he joined the other gym with me--so now we are members all over town, and yet I still cannot exercise--so he can go to spinning class with me. I hope that will help him be a little more supportive of how hard I am trying, if he actually sees how hard I am working. He seems to be the only one that is not really cheering me on with all the exercise and diet, and I do not know why that is, but it makes me sad. That and his family did not notice at all, so that is probably hurting my feelings a little bit--and I do not know why it bothers me, since really they do not have any interest in me (except Zach, he does or at least acts like it) so it is not like it is unexpected.

Man, I do not know where that came from. I guess I am wrapped a little tighter than I realized, and I have not even started complaining about the major things that are weighing on my mind. No wonder I am sick, I am beating my self up all the time.

I am tired of this

The players--now this is kind of tricky

The guests of honor, my Aunt Irene and my Gran Gran.

In case you have not picked up on it, this is a strange family. Well, how could you miss that but I mean it is strange in a rather unique way. The first matching of the Stubbs and Thrasher family occurred when Aunt Irene Stubbs married TD Thrasher. Then shortly after that, Gran Gran (a Thrasher sister) married Papaw (a Stubbs brother). Much later, one of the youngest Thrasher sisters, Aunt Peggy married Uncle Jay Stubbs, who was also Papaw's brother. Interestingly, only the women are still alive-- I just realized that.

So there is a running joke about the Double Cousins, but in fact, it is worse than that. We are all related three times. Mandy just says it is no wonder that we are all the same level of screwball since our family tree does not branch. I don't even keep track of all that rigamarole about who married who when, so I had to confirm it all with mom so I did not embarrass myself, but I actually had it all right. It gets a little dicey further on down the lines, with the cousins--so many to keep up with!

Almost everyone was there. Aunt Irene had two kids, Larry and Kay. Kay was killed as a teenager, but Larry was there. Two of his sons were not, but various other parts of that clan were there. And of course, Larry's wife Pat was the Thrasher part of the organizing of this deal. She is the one whose son disappeared in the flood this year and was not found for weeks, so that she could plan a party in the soon aftermath of that is amazing to me.

Gran Gran has three kids, and of course, mom and Aunt Jana were there, but not Uncle Bob, who lives in North Carolina, or his three children who live in North and South Carolinas. Gran Gran went there today. Mom and Aunt Jana have two kids each, and we were all there. Jana has two grandkids, one from each of her children, and they were both there. Mom only has Gabi, but of course she was there.

Aunt Peggy was there, as was her son Bob. That always leads to some confusion, as you will inevitably have people say, "don't you remember me?" or are you Bobby Stubbs? Well sure, but probably not the one you are talking about. We need a little more confusion up in here, in case anyone was getting close to figuring things out.

There were also about 70 more people, including my Gran Gran's friends who are also the parents of my first great love, Bryan. They brought me photos of he and his wife, and their three children. I have to admit it was a little weird, but nice now I am not standing there feeling like a jackass wondering what you say to that.


Well that is me and Barry. And I have no idea what is wrong with my hair. I still need an eye lift.
This is Mom, Gran Gran, Mandy and Gabi
This is my Aunt Jana, Gran Gran, my cousin Kim and her son Jack in front of her, and my cousin
Johnny in the back, with his daughter Ciara. I had not seen Johnny in probably 10 years or Ci in seven years. She lives in Florida. The rest of them live in Chicago.

It was nice that so many people came from so far away. I have some other pics of interesting things, but I figured the family would want to see these, so here they are.

For more entertaining things, there were several odd comments overheard at this shindig.

1: Mandy keeps saying how amazed she was that my hair was "under control". Also, what a great color that is, she says to me. It is her color, so no wonder she likes it. Dad wants to know where my real hair color went. The gray is getting it, probably from being in this family.

2: I overheard mom telling Dad that he could go out to Brenda's (her best friend from childhood) and sleep "with her". I am pretty sure she meant he should go out there and use one of her spare bedrooms, instead of yelling at everyone who walked between him and the football game on TV. Dad's response" "Does she have the football game on?" When I asked him later what he was still doing there instead of being at Brenda's, he said "she did not have the football game". As if he had not noticed that the strangest part of the equation was the offer to sleep with Brenda.

I am sure I will think of more.

3:

Weather tragedy hits home

From the KFVS 12 News Team--this story is about Crazy Larry's step son. Everyone knows my cousin Crazy Larry--he is one of my favorite relatives, for many reasons, and he has this wonderful wife Pat, who is a saint to put up with him. John Owens is her son, and he had as of late been living with them. Weather tragedies are not foreign to this family, as they lost their wonderful old plantation home that I always think of as the family seat to a tornado a few years ago--there was something about that house that I just loved. Anyway--new weather tragedy is still unfolding--John has still not been found and it is day 10.


Search for Missing Man in Flooded Waters Turns to Recovery Effort
By: CJ Cassidy

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. - Rising waters may have claimed a fifth victim in the Heartland.

The weekend search for John Owens of Caruthersville turned into a recovery effort Monday.

Owens disappeared from his vehicle sometime Friday when water flooded a road near the Mississippi River Levee in Pemiscot County.

Search crews say they'll continue their efforts as long as they can.

Owens' family members however say John was the kind of guy who would always lend a helping hand and they think he drowned when he set out to help a friend.

"The toughest part of it is we've found no body. It could be two weeks, it could be never," Bryan Owens said. He can't believe he may never see his younger brother again.

He says 38-year-old John wasn't the type to take chances. But he wouldn't hesitate when it came to helping someone.

"He was on his way over to help a friend sandbag his property, save it from the river," he said.

Rescue crews believe the rising waters got to him first. All you could see was the top of John's jeep Monday afternoon.

Deputies say Friday night Owen's friend heard someone calling for help, but couldn't see anyone when he came outside.

"It was late. After dark. He came out Saturday afternoon and saw the truck. That's the initial call that came in. We've been here ever since," Deputy Jess Cagle with the Pemiscot County Sheriff's Department said.

Search crews say they found a cell phone cover belonging to John Owens on top of his Jeep Cherokee Saturday afternoon.

They believe at some point he jumped off of his vehicle and tried to get to safety, but officers with the Missouri Water Patrol say navigating the floods even in a boat can be tricky.

"You have to put in off the levee go through tree line, deal with currents. Even once you get out there you have debris. There's backwater from the flood going through, and other objects to tend with," Officer David Nelson with the Missouri Water Patrol said.

Still, seeing search crews continue their efforts brings comfort to Owens' family.

While John's dad walked along the banks gazing out at the waters that may have claimed his son, his brother reflected on his memories.

"He's a good guy. Hard worker, had three kids, and a real momma's boy," he said.

Crews from Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas helped search the flooded areas by boat and from the air.

The Missouri Water Patrol plans on bringing in sonar equipment and a diver to see if they have better luck that way.